The Bucs played three really good quarters of football on Sunday afternoon, with one absurdly comical second quarter sandwiched in between. Outside of that quarter, the Bucs outscored the Saints 51-0, but officially won the game 51-27, so you do the math. With a 51-point showing and three quarters of shut-out ball, there were plenty of most impressive performances to highlight.

WR Chris Godwin

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

Godwin found holes in zone defense early and often on the first drive underneath the Saints’ zone defense for catches of eight, seven and four yards with a touchdown.

Despite a wildly dumb decision to run a cross-field lateral in the first half’s final moments, Godwin was one of the lone bright spots among the Bucs’ receiving corps. In the first half, he caught nine of his 11 targets for 62 yards and a touchdown as he operated as the engine for the offense.

Godwin was also instrumental as a blocker on Sean Tucker’s 36-yard touchdown catch and run, shoving Kool-Aid McKinstry up field and out of the play to prevent him from even attempting to tackle Tucker.

In the third quarter, Godwin threw Paulson Adebo to the ground to avoid a tackle for a loss and gained seven yards. On the next drive, Godwin would catch a short pass on the right side of the field and bounce his way through multiple would-be tacklers for a 55-yard touchdown to put the Bucs back on top 31-27.

CHRIS GODWIN OFF TO THE RACES

📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/EQOnPtCcfO

— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024

Godwin finished the game with 11 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

DB Tykee Smith

Smith had a phenomenal play on the Bucs’ first defensive drive, punching the ball out of Chris Olave’s hands after a short catch. Antoine Winfield Jr. was able to grab the fumble and run it in for a Bucs touchdown. Smith was active throughout the game, making plays in the backfield on blitzes and helping contain the outside on pitches and wide zone.

Smith continued his high level of play in the second half with another play where it looked like he punched the ball out of Bub Means’ hands. The play would be overturned, but the stop helped force a fourth down to get the Bucs the ball back.

Undeterred, Smith would create yet another turnover in the fourth quarter, intercepting Spencer Rattler to finally put the game away. The rookie out of Georgia finished the game with five combined tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.

Bucs Run Game

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

With an injury to Rachaad White preventing him from playing, Sean Tucker was elevated to the Bucs’ backup running back. He looked fantastic on the day. Tucker turned three first-half touches into 62 yards and a touchdown. On his 36-yard touchdown catch, Tucker was able to leak out to the flat and immediately turn up field. Tucker flashed his acceleration and wheels as he weaved through a few would-be tackles en route to the end zone.

Tucker would continue to impress in the second half, and he finished the day with 136 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries while adding three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.

In White’s absence, Bucky Irving was electric as well. His 31-yard run weaving in and out of the Saints defense to get the Bucs into Saints territory was a thing of beauty. He finished the game with 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown of his own.

All of this was possible because the Bucs offensive line asserted their dominance on the Saints defensive line, helping spring both running backs for multiple gains of five-plus yards and several explosive runs. The addition of Luke Goedeke made a big difference, as the line created vertical displacement and holes for Irving and White to take advantage of. Tristan Wirfs, Ben Bredeson, Robert Hainsey, Cody Mauch and Goedeke physically manhandled the Saints defense, blowing up run fits play-in and play-out.

The development of the run game could not have come at a better time as the Bucs’ pass game was in shambles leading into the second half with multiple receivers dropping the ball and Baker Mayfield wildly inaccurate through the second quarter. Tampa Bay combined for 277 rushing yards and averaged just under 8.0 yards per carry on the day.

Bucs Star Defensive Players

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

In his first action of the season, Calijah Kancey showed what the Bucs defense has been missing. He was disruptive and, at times, dominant. The second-year defensive lineman had multiple plays where he was able to knife into the Saints backfield. This led to a tackle for a loss, multiple pressures and a crucial second-half sack of Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Vita Vea and Yaya Diaby also made their presence known with two pressures each and Vea contributing a sack while constantly creating disruption in the pocket straight into Rattler’s face. Both were big factors in helping to bottle up the Saints run game, holding running back Alvin Kamara to 13 carries for just 40 yards.

Antoine Winfield Jr. made his return to action in a big way, picking up the Tykee Smith forced fumble and returning it 58 yards for a touchdown to put the Bucs up 14-0 early. Winfield had four tackles on top of the touchdown.

For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, Zyon McCollum is officially a star defensive player on this Bucs defense. And if you needed proof, he provided it with an incredible stretched-out play to grab an interception in the fourth quarter. McCollum has been the best player on the Bucs defense through the first six games of the season, with no bad games thus far.

QB Baker Mayfield

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield’s stat line and overall performance makes for a bit of a difficult evaluation. He finished the day 24-of-36 for 325 yards and four touchdowns to three interceptions. He was phenomenal to start the game, going 6-of-6 for 62 yards and a touchdown as the Bucs scored an opening-drive touchdown for the third time in three weeks. But things took a turn from there.

Circumstances played a role, to be sure, but Mayfield unraveled a bit after his hot start. He threw three interceptions the rest of the way in the first half, though two were admittedly not on him. Even still, he was wildly inaccurate in the second quarter and some of the happy feet that plagued him in the Week 3 loss to the Broncos reemerged at times.

But Mayfield recovered and went 5-of-7 for 93 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. A lot of those yards can be attributed to yards after catch and the Bucs’ signal-caller was helped greatly by the explosion of the team’s run game, but with a 300-yard, four-touchdown day (and taking it into account that two of his three interceptions weren’t his fault), Mayfield lands on this week’s Most Impressive list.